Arsene Wenger has been forced to mount a defiant defence of Arsenal's transfer
policy after his side suffered a disastrous start to the Premier League
campaign.

A 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday prompted an angry reaction from supporters at the Emirates Stadium who made it clear they were unimpressed with Wenger's failure to land his principal targets during pre-season.

Yaya Sanogo, the young French striker, remains the only newcomer after failed attempts to sign Gonzalo Higuain, Luiz Gustavo and Luis Suarez.

Yet while Arsenal boss Wenger insists he will continue with his efforts to strengthen his squad, he denied the absence of a big name signing was responsible for his side's dismal opening day defeat to an impressive Villa side.

"Could we have won the game with the players we had on the pitch? I say yes," said Wenger.

"And if we don't spend the money it's because we don't find the players.

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"We want our fans to be happy and when you don't achieve that you feel sorry and really disappointed.

"My job is to make the fans happy. But we haven't lost a game because of that. That's what I want to convince you of.

"We are in the market, everybody knows we are ready to buy players, but until we buy players we have to win football games and it's not an excuse not to win the game.

"We are there to spend money. People say: 'Buy players, buy players, buy players'. But who? We analyse every single player in the world and work 24 hours a day for that. We are serious about it. Until we buy players we have to win football games."

Wenger was in a tetchy mood during his post-match press conference as he fielded a barrage of questions about his club's plight.

Arsenal look no closer to ending the club's eight-year trophy drought and Wenger already gives the appearance of a man feeling the pressure.

"You got what you wanted, you should be happy," Wenger told reporters. "Before the start of the season that was all you wrote in the papers so what do you expect?

"Everybody has opinions and I have to live with that. I think in 16 years I have shown my loyalty to this club.

"My only worry is to do well and I am hugely disappointed because we came out of last season without a defeat in 10 games and we start the new season with a defeat at home.

"It's a massive blow and that's why the solution is not to sit here and say we'll buy players to keep you happy."

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere shared the frustrations of the club's fans after their opening-day loss.

"Tough to take! Feel the fans frustration but trust me we are giving our all! Must forget today now and focus on Wednesday night!" he wrote on Twitter.

"Massive game for us, will be tough in turkey but we must be resilient and brave! Thanks for your support as always!"